The policeman was practically shouting at them, but the occupants of the Humvee did not react. They were all veterans of life-or-death situations, and knew better than to be offended.
Huo Shaoheng folded his arms. He had been looking out the car window, but now he looked towards Yin Shixiong instead. He inclined his chin at him and calmly said, “Just go.”
“Yes, sir!”
Yin Shixiong opened the door and got out of the car. He showed his Special Operations Forces ID to the policeman. “Special Operations Forces. We’re here on official duty.”
The policeman saw at once from Yin Shixiong’s military ID that he was not only a Lieutenant Colonel, but also a commander of a regiment. He immediately had the roadblock removed. He stood by the side of the road, saluting the Humvee as it drove past him.
Inside the car, Little Li struggled to sit up; he pointed towards the direction of Little Mirror Lake. “I told Nianzhi to get in Little Mirror Lake and swim to the other side if the situation got bad enough for her to fear for her safety.”
Zhao Liangze nodded at this. He pointed at his monitor and said. “I’ve located Nianzhi, and yes, she’s on the other side of Little Mirror Lake, away from where the criminals and the police are shooting it out. Clever girl; she probably ran at the first sign of trouble.”
The suffocating aura around Huo Shaoheng instantly faded at this news. The other occupants of the car were relieved—they finally felt like they could breathe again.
The Humvee’s engines roared the as it made its way to the Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa.
The atmosphere inside the Humvee was now more relaxed. The same could not be said for the situation outside, however.
Most of the roads had been blockaded and were now off-limits to all vehicles.
Even Fan Jian, who could give Formula One racers a run for their money with his driving skills, could not find a way to get past. He stopped the Humvee a small distance away from Mingyue Court; he could go no further.
The road leading to the other side of Little Mirror Lake had been sealed off by the police.
The heavy rains were persistent. Fortunately, the roads inside the resort villa had not only been paved with asphalt, but were also raised in the middle, sloping off to the sides. There would be no danger of the roads being flooded with rainwater.
Dozens of policemen in bulletproof vests were crouched behind police cars. Their Model 18 police revolvers were pointed towards the quaint, traditional-style buildings at the end of the road.
Zhao Liangze opened up the three-dimensional architectural plans for Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa on his computer. He pointed and explained: “This large blue area over here is Little Mirror Lake. This little red dot is Nianzhi. As you can see, she’s on the other side of the blue area.”
The police and the gangsters were battling it out on their side of the blue area. There was quite a distance between them and Gu Nianzhi.
“Sir, do you want to go get Nianzhi?” Zhao Liangze got out a high-magnification military-use telescope. “We still don’t have the situation under control, so maybe we should—”
He did not finish his sentence. His headset, tuned to the radio channel used by the police and the garrison troops, had crackled to life.
Zhao Liangze momentarily froze; he lifted a hand to adjust his headset, then looked over to Huo Shaoheng in surprise. “Sir, the police have found Nianzhi and her friends. They’re requesting that the garrison troops head over to Little Mirror Lake to secure them.”
Huo Shaoheng got out a cigarette and tapped it against the back of his hand. He said to Yin Shixiong, “Go with them, but make sure no one sees you.” He handed his M16A assault rifle to Yin Shixiong as he said this.
What he meant was: “go make sure Gu Nianzhi is safe, but don’t let her know that we’re here.”
Yin Shixiong immediately leapt into action. He put on a balaclava, similar to what the garrison’s Special Taskforce were wearing, before strapping a bulletproof helmet over it, effectively covering up half his face. He opened the door, got out of the Humvee, and quickly disappeared into the dark of the night.
Not long after Yin Shixiong left, a string of gunshots sounded again from the direction of Mingyue Court.
Inside the car, Huo Shaoheng lit his cigarette and slowly inhaled. He breathed out a cloud of white smoke. “Do you reognize the gunshots, Zhao Liangze?”
Zhao Liangze removed his headset and listened intently, his head cocked to one side. After a brief moment, he said incredulously, “Is that a Czech assault rifle? How’d they get their hands on it?!”
“Seems to me it’s high time we replaced the C City Customs officers.” Huo Shaoheng turned to look out the window again, his cigarette dangling between his fingers.
There was an edge to his words as his hawk-like gaze watched the movements in front of Mingyue Pavilion.
…
Over on the other side of Little Mirror Lake, Gu Nianzhi and her classmates were hiding in a straw hut, silently praying for the battle to be over.
They were tired, hungry, and cold. They all realized how vulnerable they were in this state.
Strongman tried his best to liven things up. He laughed as he said, “Well, I definitely won’t be forgetting this graduation trip.”
“Not just you! The students from Class Two will probably be unable to forget this trip. Being held hostage… there’s no way that they won’t be traumatized by this whole experience.” Green Tea Fang sighed as she looked towards the other side of the lake in the direction of Mingyue Court.
They did not know whether the students from Class Two were alive or dead. Four of their own classmates were also in Mingyue Court.
Gu Nianzhi was lying on the ground, her head resting on Lady Cao’s thigh. She turned to lie on her back, and silently watched the helicopter that was hovering in the night sky.
A few moments later, a man dressed in the uniform of the garrison troops ran over and began counting them. He asked, “Are you law students from C City?”
“Yes! I’m the Class Representative.” Mei Xiawen stepped forward. “And you are…?”
The garrison squad leader immediately replied: “Thank God we finally found you! We’re from the garrison, Deputy Commissioner Liu from police HQ sent us here to protect you. Don’t be afraid, you can rest easy now.” He turned, called for his men, and began assigning them with guard duty.
The straw hut was immediately placed under the supervision of the fully armed soldiers. The atmosphere inside the hut was much happier now that everyone was able to relax.
Yin Shixiong had blended in with the soldiers on guard duty. He spotted Gu Nianzhi at once.
She was lying on the only stone bench in the hut. Her face was pale, and her eyes were closed. She looked as though she were sleeping.
Yin Shixiong was wearing night vision goggles equipped with camera and communication features.
He raised his hand and pressed a button on his night vision goggles. He snapped a series of photos of Gu Nianzhi, and immediately transferred them to Zhao Liangze.
Gu Nianzhi, who was resting with her eyes closed, suddenly felt as though someone were spying on her. Her thick eyelashes abruptly revealed a pair of bright eyes. She unknowingly looked straight at the camera: uneasiness and fear lurked in the depths of her beautiful black eyes.
This photo of her was transmitted to Zhao Liangze’s computer, and Huo Shaoheng accidentally caught sight of it as he turned his head. He was slightly unnerved. “Did Big Xiong send this?”
Zhao Liangze grinned as he put his hands behind his head and tilted his seat backwards. He moved so Huo Shaoheng had the best view of the screen, and said, proudly, “Just received it. Nianzhi’s fine.”
Huo Shaoheng took a drag on his cigarette. He tore his eyes away from the computer screen, away from Gu Nianzhi’s bright, haunting eyes, and looked out the car window again.
…
The gunshots coming from the entrance to Mingyue Court had increased in frequency.
At this point, the police backed down and let the garrison troops take over. Their snipers got into position.
These were actual soldiers from the army; they turned the tables on the enemy as soon as they arrived on the scene.
Bang bang bang bang!
Three of the Big Circle Boys members, armed with sniper rifles, had been hiding in the bamboo forest; they were quickly taken out by the garrison’s Special Taskforce snipers with a few precise shots.
Deputy Commissioner Liu from C City Police Headquarters was still inside his helicopter, hovering in midair, when he received the news. He waved his fist in triumph. “Those thugs are no match for our soldiers!”
However, there were still two men standing, and they were more skilled than the others. They were armed with assault rifles, and had taken up positions in front of Mingyue Court, one on each side.
“You have been surrounded! Just give up already! Let the hostages go! Surrender now, and you may be able to beg for leniency in court!” Deputy Commissioner Liu shouted to the gangsters in Mingyue Court.
Inside the Humvee, Huo Shaoheng frowned and abruptly flicked his cigarette butt away.
Beside him, Zhao Liangze gave a sharp laugh. “Leniency? After killing policemen and soldiers? Our dearly departed brothers-in-arms must be frothing at the mouth up in heaven.”